Updated 3:53 pm, Wednesday, November 20, 2013

$30K reward offered to find out who is intentionally cutting your Comcast lines

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The next time you find your Comcast cable is out, consider blaming vandals.

Workers are finding fiber optic cables intentionally severed, which not only means missing The Walking Dead but cuts vital services like 911 and other phone communication.

At a press conference Wednesday, Crime Stoppers of Houston and the Harris County Sheriff's Office announced they are offering up to $30,000 in reward money for help in finding out who is vandalizing Comcast cable equipment in north Houston.

"These crimes put the citizens of Harris County at serious risk," said Rania Mankarious of Crime Stoppers. She urged anyone seeing suspicious activity around cable equipment to report it to authorities.

Crime Stoppers and the HCSO released photos from three of the nine sites where cables have been cut or otherwise tampered with.

HCSO said via Twitter that each time a line is cut, it severs service for 50,000-60,000 customers in Harris County.

Sheriff Adrian Garcia asked the public to report anyone seen tampering with public utilities like phone lines or light poles.

"You are cutting off a person's ability to get help," he said. "Imagine your grandmother, or mother needing help."

It can take around six to hours to repair a cut line, officials said.

These crimes started in September and are occurring in the unincorporated parts of Harris County. The lines are not valuable for scrap, as they are not made of copper. Vandals are targeting lines in the public right of way. The last incident was Oct. 14.

"We don't have any suspects at this time," said Sgt. Richard Castillo with the HCSO.The motives could varied. It could be to interrupt service or to cut off communications in order to commit a crime.

Suspects will be facing criminal mischief charges if caught. If there were other crimes committed in concert with the act, they could be in more trouble.